5 Must-Watch Food YouTube Channels

Ricesome
Oct 13, 2023
5 min read

Updated: Oct 23, 2023

If there is anything that I taught myself in life apart from shaving a mustache, downloading a video game from torrent websites, or playing a guitar........, it is to learn how to cook. I don't mean it lightly when I say that the internet taught me more things than my culinary education (Sorry Father!). I am not dissing culinary school completely, don't mix up my words.

Just Rhett & Link spraying whipped cream into their mouths.

Learning something by yourself, allowing yourself to make mistakes, and correcting them as you go is one of the most cathartic and reassuring things you can do. No skill was away from me, my only limits were time, patience, and probably money (yeah, probably). I would attribute this credit to YouTube. Why specifically YouTube? It's different from other social media platforms. The communities which are formed on this platform are unlike any other. Some YouTubers get a massive following on the same level as our conventional celebrities.

But you should know where to look, and today I am gonna give you some places to look that made me feel like I belonged somewhere. Without any more nonsense, here we go:

1. Good Mythical Morning (18.4 M Subscribers)

Good Mythical Morning (GMM) is an online talk show started by Internetainers Rhett and Link in 2012. This daily talk show talks about virtually anything from asking the question "Will it?" to any food to giving unhelpful advice about awkward situations in life to singing about a turkey in a trash can. Although food is not the only thing they do, it certainly is a major part of their content. They have a podcast, web series, two best-selling books, multiple YouTube channels (including Mythical Kitchen, which is a cooking channel), repeated appearances on famous late-night talk shows, music albums, an online store, and many more.

There are many things in my life I feel thankful for and very few things made me feel like I belong somewhere- to a community, an idea, a sense of humor, etc. This YouTube channel is one of them. There is nothing that could make an awkward 13-year-old boy with no social life, physical activity, and a mild interest in food than a channel that talks about whether pig anus will soup. The people who are fans of this show belong to a certain group that is silly, positive, curious, and.....weird.

I cannot recommend this show more than this to anyone. Just watch it....now!

2. Sorted Food (2.72 M Subscribers)

SortedFood is an online British cooking show that was started by Ben, Barry, Jamie, and Mike who have been friends since their school times. Ben Ebbrell, who is a classically trained chef and culinary expert, was responsible for creating and teaching recipes at the beginning. Gradually, their show grew into something huge and they now have a team of 25 employees as of 2022. One of their current biggest projects is their meal packs app "Sidekick", which gives daily meal suggestions and voice-assisted recipes as part of a subscription package. They also have an online store, a podcast, multiple cookbooks, and many more.

I learned about Sorted Food through GMM. It's a crime to see a channel like this that has been going on for more than 10 years to only have 2.72 million subscribers. They make cooking look so easy and so fun with their chatter, innuendos, and infographics. Their production levels are on par with many of the food shows we see on TV. They deserve more attention, and I learned a lot of things about the culinary world through them. Ben is a great teacher and instructor, and the rest of the teammates make the show more entertaining, and fun.

3. Babish Culinary Universe (10.1 M Subscribers)

Babish Culinary Universe, formerly known as Binging with Babish, is a cooking show started by home cook and filmmaker, Andrew Rea, in 2016. This show features Andrew recreating foods from movies, TV series, video games, cartoons, anime, etc. The show started with Babish recreating foods from film and now it has multiple segments such as Basics with Babish, Anime with Alvin, Kendall Combines, etc and I guess that explains the name change.

Babish's show was the first of a kind to recreate food from fiction. What I like the most about this show is Andrew's calming voice assuring you that everything is gonna be okay (even though it might not be). Apart from well-tested recipes, dry humor, and sarcastic commentary, this show offers my two favourite things in the world: Food and Storytelling.

Babish Culinary Universe is already really popular, but if you haven't heard about it, you are probably living under a rock.

4. Feast of Fiction (1.34 M Subscribers)

Staying on the theme of food from fiction, Feast of Fiction is another channel that recreates food from movies, television, video games, and anime. This show started in 2011 and was hosted by Jimmy Wong and Ashley Adams. Both of them bring different elements to the show. Like any successful cooking show, there exists a culinary expert who knows what they are doing and a fun and quirky host......who doesn't.

Feast of Fiction is my comfort place to watch while I eat something. The show is made with a relatively low budget as compared to shows like Babish Culinary Universe, which is good on its own terms as it gives off homely vibes. But, unfortunately, they stopped uploading last year, and the last video on their channel is "Gilgamesh's Pie from Marvel's Eternals".

This show gives off such warm vibes that immediately bring back nostalgic memories. do yourself a favor and check out their channel today.

5. CookingShooking (4.45 M Subscribers)

Probably the only Indian cooking channel that I watched religiously when I started learning cooking. CookingShooking was started by Yaman Agarwal in 2012 where he posted simple and easy vegetarian recipes for busy home cooks. Later, he started another channel, "CookingShookingHindi", where he gained a massive following of 13.2 million subscribers to date. Yaman stopped uploading last year. Later, I found out that he opened a Pilot Takeaway Kitchen in Hyderabad, India, called "Chatoros" (his famous catchphrase on YouTube) where he featured some of his famous cuisines.

Yaman was the first food YouTuber that I saw being featured in a newspaper. He was the first YouTube chef for our generation. Someone who came with no culinary background, and provided us with reliable and well-tested recipes. His recipes always worked and even my mother followed him. (P.S. She hates cooking).

His recipes are still available online, do check them out, and also if you are from Hyderabad, do order from Chatoros.

These are some of the many channels that created a world around me that sparked my curiosity to learn and share. Maybe somehow they were an influence for me to share whatever I can offer to the world and learn about it in the process. Unlike other media platforms, YouTube is a good place to learn and share....if used correctly. Otherwise, it's very easy to end up on the dark side of it.......YOUTUBE SHORTS!!

That's it for this week! See you next time!